Take the farm down to earth

Chapter 45

Not everyone in Shan Guogong's households could use iron farm tools. When digging fish ditches, Shi Zhongkui saw that 7 to 80 of the hundreds of people used wooden hoes and shovels.

Low productivity was the main reason for the low grain output in ancient times, and this is not a problem that one person can solve in a short time.

In early May, a week after the rice was transplanted, Shi Zhongkui, who had been studying and practicing in the farm for ten days, suddenly heard from Shun'er that Yu Honggao was at the experimental field.

When they brought people to the field, they didn't expect that besides Yu Honggao and his son and Shi Guangzhu, there were at least 30 country gentlemen in Jingpao and more than 100 attendants standing around them.

Even Yu Honggao, who was in the green robe official uniform from the sixth rank, had another official in the same green robe and two red robes from the fifth rank and above.

Across the crowd, he saw Jia Lian and Jia Baoyu standing beside a red-robed official. Shi Zhongkui knew at a guess that this person must be Jia Zheng.

Another high probability is also an official of the Ministry of Industry.

Sure enough, after Shi Zhongkui approached, under Yu Honggao's introduction, besides Wailang Jiazheng, a member of the Ministry of Industry of the fifth rank, the other was Gao Yongmin, a doctor of the Tuntian Division of the Ministry of Industry of the fifth rank.

As for the 7th-rank green-robed official, it is no accident that he is a neighbor of Shan Guogong's mansion, and Yang Wenqin is the [-]th-rank official in the Ministry of Rites.

At first, I was worried that the surname Yang was here to find fault, but seeing that he and Yu Honggao had a good chat, I couldn't help but sigh that they were both actors.

Jia Zheng looked like a good old man. After Shi Zhongkui saluted everyone, he took the initiative to call him "Uncle Shi" because of his friendship with Jia Lian and Jia Baoyu.

He took the lead and said, "Nephew's move is beneficial to the country and the people, but as long as the first experiment can raise the fish, it will be meritorious. Don't make too much of it."

After thanking Shi Zhongkui for a salute, he smiled and said, "Uncle Shi, please rest assured. My nephew knows that this kind of land depends on the sky first, the fertility of the land second, and the careful management of the farmers, so I didn't boast about it, and even more so. I never thought of taking credit for it.”

"That's right. The saying of relying on the sky for food has existed since ancient times. My nephew thinks so, it's the best."

Although Jia Zheng was a son of a family, he was obsessed with the Four Books and Five Classics, but since he worked in the Ministry of Industry, he still understood this simple truth after more than ten years.

After the others nodded, Shi Zhongkui continued, "Farm manure is beneficial to the growth of crops. I believe that not only generations of farmers understand it, but also ancient books have clearly stated it.

However, this compost is a delicate guy. If there is too much fertilizer, or if the fertilizer is not handled properly during fermentation, it is easy to burn the crops to death.

Farming fish in the field can not only use the fish to eat weeds and pests, but also provide stable and long-lasting fish fertilizer for the farmland.

Carp and grass carp can also turn the silt in the farmland from time to time, making it easier for the rice seeds to absorb the fertility in the field, which can be said to be beneficial without any harm. "

When the few officials from the Ministry of Industry who followed heard this, they immediately nodded.

Jia Zheng and the others nodded their heads when they saw the old officials from the Ministry of Industry, and gradually believed in Shi Zhongkui.

"But once the water in the fields is not enough, how can we raise fish?"

Shi Zhongkui pointed to the well-shaped fish ditch, "Half of an acre of land is lost, and the digging of this fish ditch can not only store water for rice, but also provide a living place for fish fry.

If even the fish ditches were dry, I believe that the fields of other families would have dried up long ago.This is a natural disaster that cannot be countered by humans. "

Gao Yongmin nodded slightly, "It's just that it's really difficult to fully promote this method."

Shi Zhongkui frowned after hearing this. Could it be that Gao Yongmin and others have never heard of people in the south who have raised fish in rice fields, or is there no such model in this world?
No, Jia Baoyu read it in ancient books.

Maybe it can only be used. The ancients have never seen it with their own eyes, and no one dared to try it.

In addition, the information is not smooth, except for the traveling merchants, the knowledge of the ancients is actually very small.

Many things that modern people take for granted are novel and incomprehensible in the eyes of the ancients.

"My lord, the student never thought of promoting it to the whole world from the beginning."

When Gao Yongmin and the others heard this, they frowned.

Shi Zhongkui sighed, "After all, raising fish is a delicate job, ordinary farmers don't know how to raise fish, and they can't bear the risk of failure.

Moreover, this method is based on what students have seen and made some improvements from ancient books. It not only needs time to test whether it is reasonable, so as not to do bad things with good intentions.

It's not that the students are unwilling to do their best, and the students have also been poor. They know that for ordinary farmers with only three to five acres of land, following the old rules and step by step is the safest way.

So the students didn't make a fuss about it, they just thought that if they succeeded in this place, they would be like their ancestors in the family who managed well and left hundreds of acres or thousands of acres of family property. Experiment with a few acres of land, even if the production reduction will not have a big impact.

Moreover, if you want to raise fish in rice fields, you need sufficient water sources. This method has excluded more than 8% of the fields in the north from the beginning.

But once this method is feasible, the students think that many gentry in the world will be more willing to pay for repairing ditches and benefiting the village.

And once the south, which is the most suitable for promotion, also prevails, it is not difficult to increase the grain of hundreds of thousands of shi for the court every year. "

Gao Yongmin, Jia Zheng, Yu Honggao, Yang Wenqin, and several minor officials from the Ministry of Industry looked at each other, and they all saw the ecstasy in each other's eyes.

If it is possible to increase grain by 2%, it will not be a matter of hundreds of thousands of shi, but millions of shi.

Although the land tax collected by the imperial court varies from north to south, and from province to province, the average is almost one tenth.

Calculated according to one tael of silver per stone of rice at this time, it is equivalent to creating millions of taels of silver for the world.

Not to mention the immeasurable merits, at least it has also contributed to the court.

And according to Shi Zhongkui, it must be the official and gentry groups that benefit the most from this move.

As a full-time farm doctor, Gao Yongmin was of course the happiest.

Once he has made great achievements in farming in the north, he must be promoted.

Going over directly, Hong Gao said to Shi Zhongkui, "I want to ask the imperial court to make meritorious service for you."

"Don't dare," Shi Zhongkui hurriedly saluted, "This method has existed since ancient times, and the students are just improving it. And one of them has not been successful, and the other is because of the blessings of the two saints, the world is peaceful and the people are safe, so students have the opportunity to display it.

Three, this matter still needs the help and care of the adults.

In the end, without the trust and teaching of the mentor, and the funding from the Duke of Shanguo, no matter how many ideas the students have, they are just castles in the air. "

"Hahaha", Gao Yongmin and others couldn't help laughing and satisfied when they saw that Shi Zhongkui made it clear to give credit to everyone.

As for him flattering the emperor and the Supreme Emperor, most people not only thought it was okay, but also lamented that he knew the truth of being an official when he was only 20 years old.

Gao Yongmin looked at the smiling Yu Honggao and said, "Brother Rusong, I envy you for taking in good disciples."

(End of this chapter)